Harbouring Romantic Feelings
by Serpens Caputt
Summary: In which Gray and Natsu have no experience in confessing to their crushes- especially when it's each other, and Lucy's just along for the ride. One-shot. GrayxNatsu


**Something I thought up when I was supposed to be doing my homework...**

**Gratsu is kind of my guilty pleasure, so enjoy!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

The wind was crisp and the skies were clear, seagulls circling above in rhythmic patterns over the ship as two members of Fairy Tail sat back in lounge chairs, enjoying the view.

The third member in their group was hunched over the side, scarf hanging loosely off of his shoulders as he spewed into the ocean below, his thoughts (and stomach) swirling miserably. He would have cursed himself - or better yet, Gray - for taking this mission but was far more interested in trying to retain what he could of their breakfast...or of the previous night's dinner, at the very least.

"Gray," said Lucy slowly, an edge to her voice as she turned away from watching Natsu heave once more over the side.

"Hmm?"

"...Where are your pants?"

"Oh. I left them in the cabin," he answered, placing sunglasses over his eyes.

Lucy frowned. "In _our_ cabin?"

"No."

Gray turned to look at her. "What?"

"YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE YOUR CLOTHING IN SOMEONE ELSE'S ROOM!" she shrieked, standing up and attempting to drag him upward by the arm. She was surprised to find that Gray managed to stay still, resting further back against his chair. "You have to get them back!" she said.

"I'll get them later," he said.

"If Erza were here-"

"Later," Gray interrupted, stretching into a yawn.

"I'm not sitting next to you if you're not going to wear pants," said Lucy. "This is a fancy ship and it's just...not okay." She reached down for her towel, draping it over one shoulder and heading towards the opposite end of the ship, book in hand.

Gray sighed, pushing his sunglasses off of his head and looking over at Natsu. His salmon hair gleamed in the sunlight as Natsu sat up, wiping messily at his mouth. "No more..." he muttered.

"Isn't your stomach empty yet?" asked Gray from where he sat.

"Go awa- Blrgh," said Natsu, vomiting over the side.

"The captain said it'd only be another half hour," said Gray comfortingly, a not-so-hidden smirk on his face.

"A-Another _half hour_?!" Natsu's face paled further.

Gray contemplated for a moment before speaking again. "We might get a ticket for polluting the sea life if you don't cut it out."

"Shut ughhhhpppplph."

"You're disgusting," said Gray, standing. An older couple passed; he smiled at the woman, who looked down at his waist, fainting just two seconds later.

"Young man, put on some pants," grunted the older man.

Gray gave him a mock salute. "I'll get right on that." To Natsu, he stuck out his tongue, turning around and trying to remember which cabin he'd felt drafty in; he thought it was around cabin 204 that he'd realised his shirt was off, and by 220 that his pants were missing. He'd just have to check each one till he found all items.

He sighed, readying himself for the search.

* * *

Opening doors to cabins that weren't your own involved a key, usually - something that Gray didn't have. He turned around, heading towards where he'd last seen Lucy. Ignoring the gasps of passers-by, he asked if any of those keys she had were handy for breaking into rooms to retrieve his pants; she looked affronted and hurried him away, face bright red as she fumbled through her assortment, somehow managing - without quite showing Gray - to open only the cabins that contained some item of his clothing.

Once he was properly dressed, he thanked her briefly before smacking into her.

"Ouch!" she said. "What was that for?"

"I guess we landed," said Gray.

"Why was the landing so rough?" asked Lucy. "Nevermind. Let's just find Natsu and head towards the town."

"You find him. I'm going to go buy some food." Gray turned, heading towards the exit.

"But we should go together!"

"See you."

"_Gray!_"

* * *

Truth be told, he wasn't sure why he was avoiding Natsu. He still hated him, but there was something...awkward about being around him so much. It was like no matter how hard he tried, he still kept getting paired up with the motion-sickness retard. Sure, they made an okay team, but-

"Hey."

Gray turned around to see Natsu holding his shoulder with one arm, a fierce look on his face. "What do you want?"

"Lucy's worried about you," said Natsu. "She..."

Gray watched the blank face for several moments before bringing his hand to his forehead. "If you need to sit down, just do it. Stop breathing your sour vomit breath in my face."

A faint smile flickered over Natsu's features as he sank to the ground - tugging Gray down with him. The two sat sprawled on the ground, Gray carefully removing his limbs from Natsu's as quickly as possible. Something about the touch just didn't sit right with him.

"How long were we on that ship?" said Natsu, his voice full of queasiness. It was painful just _hearing_ it.

"Just over an hour," answered Gray.

"It seemed like _forever_," groaned Natsu. He made several sounds in the following silence - sounds of discontent, of confusion and then of curiosity. Gray was unsurprised when he felt himself being poked in the arm. "You've been weird lately."

"You're weird all the time," Gray answered, not missing a beat.

"No, but...this is different," said Natsu thoughtfully. "And I'm not weird."

Gray didn't answer.

Natsu reached up, slamming one hand hard against Gray's chest, shoving him back against a nearby rock. "What's the matter with you, anyway?" he demanded.

"Stop touching me," said Gray. His eyes were hooded and forcefully blank.

"I should punch you."

"I should freeze your fingers and break them off, one by one," retorted Gray.

"Do that and I'll burn that stupid hair off your head."

"You couldn't even get close to- What's wrong with my hair?" said Gray, interrupting himself. It was a strange remark for Natsu to make; usually he would stick to more direct attacks, like punches to the face or blazing the whole person away. Hair seemed like a vain sort of thing for him to choose to threaten.

"It's too nice," said Natsu, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"...Nice?" This was getting weird.

"Yeah...you know," said Natsu. "How it hangs in front of your eyes and makes you look- What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Do you have _any_ idea what-" Gray shut his mouth. What was he doing? If Natsu thought he had nice hair...well. It was odd, but there was no reason to point it out.

"Any idea what...what?"

"Nothing," said Gray.

Natsu scratched his head with his free hand, the other one still on Gray's shoulder. He stopped when Gray stood, brushing himself off.

"Why are you taking off your pants?"

"...Shit."

"You need to shit?"

"No. Just shut up." Gray forced his clothing to stay where it was, glaring at Natsu. "Are we eating or not?" He began to walk, swearing when he felt another tug at his shoulder. Whipping around, he tugged Natsu's hand off of him, grabbing the wrist and shoving Natsu against a nearby wall - a restaurant, from the looks of it.

"What's your _problem_, Gray?" asked Natsu.

"You," answered Gray, his hold tightening around the other's fist. "_You're_ my problem."

"You wanna fight?"

Gray was silent, his body leaning forward almost involuntarily. "No," he said. "Not this time."

Not giving Natsu a chance to ask questions, he tilted his head to the side slightly, just enough so that their noses didn't bump when he pushed his lips against Natsu's.

_...What. Am I doing._ thought Gray to himself. _I must be going completely __**insane**__._

He was just about to pull away when he felt something give way - Natsu's lips parting, soft and enticing. Gray took one step closer, tongue meeting against Natsu's awkwardly once, then twice before he felt a soft shove at his chest.

"I...what are you doing?" asked Natsu, his cheeks darkening.

Gray let go of his wrist, taking one step back; still close, but not with any skin-to-skin contact. "You wanted to know what my problem was," he said defensively. "Well, now you know."

"Know what?"

Gray glared. "That I wanted to kiss you - what else, stupid?"

"Why?"

"Hell if I know." Gray turned, looking back at Natsu. "Anyway, are you coming? Lucy's probably looking for us."

"Yeah..."

Natsu walked behind, oddly subdued. He watched as Lucy waved to them, his mind blank. Nothing made sense: what Gray had done made him feel...well, he didn't know, but he couldn't decide if he liked it or not. He knew that things like kissing happened between a man and a woman, but neither him nor Gray fit into the woman category. Besides that, they hated each other, so why would Gray ever want to-

"Natsu? Are you okay?"

He blinked, looking up into Lucy's worried eyes. "I'm just..." He glanced over at Gray, who was busy eating. "...Thinking. That's all," he said.

"You look a little under the weather," she said. "Maybe you should rest after we eat."

Natsu didn't miss the subtle, quick dart of Gray's eyes. "Yeah. Maybe."

Lucy tapped Gray on the shoulder, urging him to lean closer. "Did something happen to Natsu?" she whispered.

Gray shrugged.

"He seems really off," she pressed. "You didn't knock him out or anything, did you?"

"No." He stood. "I need some air."

"Gray?"

"I'll meet you outside," he said, ignoring Lucy's look of concern.

The air outside of the restaurant was cold, but he liked it. His jacket ruffled slightly in the wind, rustling against his cheek.

"Are you harbouring romantic feelings towards me?" came Natsu's voice from behind.

"...What?"

Natsu repeated his question in all seriousness.

"Harbouring?" said Gray. "Since when do you use words like that?"

"I read it in a book Lucy was carrying," Natsu explained. "So...are you?"

"That'd be stupid," looking away.

"Well, you _are_ stupid-"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"I meant I'm not 'harbouring romantic feelings towards you,'" said Gray, making ironic quotation signs in the air with his fingers as he spoke the last part of his sentence.

"Oh. Then why'd you kiss me?" A genuinely confused expression crossed Natsu's face.

"I don't know."

Gray fiddled with the edge of his jacket, looking at the ground. Why could Natsu just go back inside or something? This was getting to be too _weird_ - and if Natsu didn't leave soon, Gray was pretty sure he'd try to continue what he'd awkwardly started before. Or he'd punch him.

Yeah, punching would be better.

"I liked it."

Gray's head whipped around to _stare_ at Natsu. "What?!"

Natsu laughed.

"Oh. You were kidding," said Gray, cursing himself for sounding disappointed.

"I wasn't," said Natsu. "But that look you gave me was too funny."

"It _wasn't_-" Gray's fist tightened. That punching option was beginning to look _really_ appealing. "Just go away before it happens again."

"Before what happens again?" asked Lucy, walking towards them.

"Before Gray-mpphphmph," said Natsu, eyes widening as Gray clamped a firm, icy hand across his mouth.

"Before he says something that gets him _castrated_," Gray said menacingly.

Lucy frowned. "You're both acting weird."

"That's what I said!" Natsu frowned in turn. "Wait...both?"

"Yes," said Lucy, holding back a smile at how ruffled Natsu looked. "You're blushing."

"No way!" they echoed together.

"It's just hot outside-"

"It's just too cold outside-"

They looked at each other.

"Stop saying things at the same time as me!" they echoed.

"I'm...going to go find us directions," said Lucy, ambling away.

"...You can let go of me now," said Natsu.

"Oh. ...Right," said Gray.

"You really are blushing."

"So are you."

"You blushed first."

"I did not."

"You did so."

"Stop acting like a five-year-old."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Gray sighed.

Natsu followed suit. "You really don't think of me in that way?" he asked.

"You make it sound like you _want_ me to," snorted Gray.

"So?"

"What?"

"...Fine. What if I did?" asked Gray, sitting on a nearby bench.

"That'd be...weird," said Natsu.

"Don't you or Lucy know any words besides 'weird?'" asked Gray, beginning to get annoyed - partly at Natsu, but mostly at his almost-confession.

"Yeah," said Natsu, scowling.

"Like what?" challenged Gray.

"Like 'maybe I do too, you icy jackass.'"

Gray bowed his head, a smile playing across his lips. "That so?"

"Yeah. Maybe," said Natsu, smirking.

"That's some impressive vocabulary," he said, looking into the bright eyes across from him as Natsu moved closer.

"I thought so."

"Hey!" said Lucy. "I've got a map all ready! ...Are you two holding hands?"

Natsu yelped as Gray punched him in the cheek. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR?"

"Getting too close!" said Gray.

"COME HERE SO I CAN PUNCH THAT SMILE OFF YOUR FACE!"

"We need to work together!" said Lucy, sighing when the other two looked at her briefly before continuing their fight. Taking up Gray's seat on the bench, she muttered, "I wish Erza were here."

* * *

**Well, there you have it! Some awkward Gratsu for you all.**

**Please review! **


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